No, Oprah did not block Hawaii road

Media mogul denies she stopped residents evacuating

Oprah Winfrey refuted widespread online claims on Wednesday that she blocked off a private road on Hawaii property she owns, preventing tsunami evacuees from quickly reaching higher ground, reported AFP.

Winfrey has a residence on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where tsunami warnings were issued after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Russia.

Nicole Nichols, a spokesperson for the billionaire talk show host, told AFP Winfrey's team contacted local law enforcement and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure the road was opened "as soon as we heard the tsunami warnings".

"Any reports otherwise are false," Nichols said in a statement.

According to the Guardian, despite being commonly known as "Oprah's road", the portion of Kealakapu Road belongs to Haleakal? Ranch, a 30,000 acre property spanning the southern shoreline to Upcountry Maui. The private road connects a public roadway with a highway on the island's oceanside. In accordance with her agreement with the ranch, Winfrey is allowed to make certain improvements to the road.

Despite this, across social media, angry users accused Winfrey of refusing to make her road available at any point to evacuees, despite heavy traffic on the island. Some posts amassed millions of views.

However, Maui officials repeatedly listed the route as an option in emergency alerts.

"Oprah's road is open to Upcountry," the county wrote, citing the Maui police department.

Nichols said local law enforcement had been helping residents through the road 50 cars at a time and that the passageway would remain open "as long as necessary".

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later downgraded the situation in Hawaii to a tsunami advisory, and Maui authorities lifted evacuation orders.

The media mogul also faced disinformation after wildfires devastated Maui in 2023, with conspiracists falsely claiming she had painted her roof blue to evade high-energy lasers they blamed for the blazes, and others saying she ignited them herself as part of a land grab.